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Coping With Plaquenil Side Effects

Hey guys im new! On Thursday 7/18/13 the doctors finally figured out why I was feeling bad and getting hives. My Rheumatologist says that I do not have enough symptoms to be diagnosed with SLE, but she started treating me preventively. She start me on Plaquenil two times a day. I took my first dose Friday night with dinner, Saturday one with breakfast and the other with dinner. Saturday when I woke up I had an upset stomach and was really nauseous. I stopped taking Plaquenil, but Sunday it was worse I was really nauseous, dizzy, and had a bad headache. On Monday I called my Dr and she said to take it only once a day at night. The nausea was so bad on Monday that three hours into my shift at work I had to go home. Around midday the nausea went away and I was feeling better, but the next day it returned. I asked for something for the nausea, but she refused to give me anything. So I have been taking peptobismo and yesterday I started taking Nauzene. They both help a bit, but don't eliminate it.

I read online that the generic version of Plaquenil causes more side effects then the real one is this true? I'm asking because I have had that happen before w/ another medication. My next step was to get the brand name Plaquenil and see how that goes. What do you guys think? So far the Plaquenil is only making me sick and isn't helping with the hives. I'm also taking Prednisone for the hives. I'm going to restart Plaquenil, but on Friday in case I get any bad side effects I have the weekend to cope with them. I also read about taking the medicine with a buffer. Any buffers you guys would recommend? I'm new to all this so any help or suggestions will be appreciated. I just want to be able to take the medicine without feeling bad and it interrupting my daily routine. I hope that's not a lot to ask :/

Plaquenil is the brand name for hydroxychloroquine sulfate. This drug come is generic form also. Many have found that Plaquenil does work better for them than the generic drug. All generic medications must undergo certain tests to compare them to brand-name medications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then looks at these tests to decide if the generics are equivalent to the brand-name medications and assigns each generic a rating. An "AB" rating means that the FDA has determined that a generic medication is equivalent to a brand-name medication. All of the generic hydroxychloroquine versions currently available have an "AB" rating, meaning they should be equivalent to Plaquenil.

However, generic medications are allowed to have different inactive ingredients than the brand-name medication. This might include fillers or dyes or other ingredients that may cause problems for people with allergies or sensitivities. It is these additional fillers, dyes, or other ingredients that have been found to cause adverse reactions to generic hydoroxychloroquine sulfate.
Nausea and diarrhea are the most common side effects of Plaquenil. This nausea can last for several weeks before it calms down. Also, Plaquenil is a cumulative drug, meaning that it can take weeks or months before you see and significant results with the use of Plaquenil. Unfortunately, there are no real substitutes for Plaquenil itself. There are alternative treatments, but every medication comes with its own set of side effects. Your doctor may be amenable to Prednisone or one of the immunosuppressive drugs. There is a lot of information here about both types of medications (start by reading the stickys at the top of each forum). Educate yourself about these (and possibly other) treatments so that you can have an informed discussion with your doctor about which ones might work best for you.
Good Luck